VOA news for Friday, February 26th, 2016 Thanks to http://gandalf.ddo.jp/ for audio and text From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David DeForest reporting. A proposal on North Korea. The United States submitted to the U.N. Security Council Thursday a draft resolution calling for new sanctions on North Korea for its recent nuclear test and long-range missile launch. Here is U.S. ambassador Samantha Power: "The United States tabled a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that if adopted would break new ground and represent the strongest set of sanctions imposed by the Security Council in more than 2 decades." :Samantha Power. U.S. President Barack Obama met Thursday with his top security officials to discuss U.S. efforts to combat the Islamic State group. The meeting included senior officials from the White House, State Department, intelligence community, Defense Department and Treasury Department. Mr. Obama briefed reporters: "The fight against ISIL will remain difficult, but we will continue to draw on all elements of our national power, military, intelligence, diplomacy, homeland security, law enforcement and the strength of our communities. And I am confident that we will prevail.” The meetings were the latest in a series of updates on the U.S. campaign to counter the Islamic State group. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made a stop in South Sudan Thursday to push the government and rebel forces to implement last year's peace accord. Mr. Ban's visit to Juba came as the 2 sides prepare to form a unity government. The European Union is poised to further tighten border controls to deal with the unprecedented influx of migrants. Meeting in Brussels Thursday, the EU interior and justice ministers raised the prospect for such unilateral measures if the number of migrants arriving from Turkey has not dropped significantly by the time. An EU-Turkey summit is next month. This is VOA news. Top U.S. intelligence officials are asking whether Russia is really committed to a peaceful resolution in Syria. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told lawmakers Thursday Russia may be considering putting more troops on the ground in Syria in order to bolster the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Clapper spoke to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. United Nations special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura says he will announce on Friday when U.N.-mediated peace talks on Syria will resume. Lisa Schlein reports. U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura says he considers Friday a crucial day in ongoing efforts to quickly resume the Syrian peace talks that were abruptly suspended on February 3. He says there is a midday deadline for the government and opposition groups to accept the framework of the cessation of hostilities proposal. He says this will be followed by a meeting of a task force formed to work out the modalities of the agreement. Lisa Schlein, Geneva. Apple has filed a motion in court asking a federal magistrate to reverse her order that the company help the FBI hack into a killer's locked iPhone. The company rejected the government's request to create new software that would allow law enforcement officials to break into the phone of Syed Rizwan Farook, who along with his wife killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California, last year. The U.S. Republican Presidential candidates will hold another debate today. Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Texas Senator Ted Cruz hope to curb the electoral momentum for the frontrunner, businessman Donald Trump. On the Democratic side, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton [has] who has won [three] 2 of 3 Democratic state contests over her one remaining rival Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Somalia's President said Wednesday that between 180 and 200 Kenyan soldiers were killed when Islamist militants attacked an African Union base in southwestern Somalia last month. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud made a disclosure in an interview on a Somali TV. A Kenyan Defense Forces spokesman quickly denied the claim. Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval has asked that he be removed from consideration for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. The move comes a day after reports emerged that the White House was vetting him for a possible appointment. The 52-year-old Sandoval gave no explanation for the move. The White House says President Barack Obama is considering a list of candidates to fill the lifetime job on the 9-member court. Republican leaders in the Senate say they have no intention of even considering an Obama nominee. In Washington, I'm David DeForest. That's the latest world news from VOA.

• published: 26 Feb 2016
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